WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — One week ago, Kaleida Health confirmed it would close two Buffalo Therapy Services clinics in Williamsville and North Tonawanda, leaving patients who rely on specialized care scrambling to find alternatives.
The closures affect clinics at the Williamsville location and DeGraff Medical Park in North Tonawanda, as the area's largest health care system anticipates federal cuts from the Trump administration.
For Lisa Lederhouse, the closure means her longtime partner Patrick will lose access to the comprehensive care that has helped him recover from a devastating brain injury.
"It's going to put a huge void in a lot of people's lives," Lederhouse said.
Since May, Patrick has been receiving care from Buffalo Therapy Services in Williamsville after suffering complications from surgery earlier this year.
"In January of this year, went in for surgery and unfortunately had some complications, ended up spending 68 days in the hospital," Lederhouse said.
Patrick suffered an anoxic brain injury from the complications. It's a condition where the brain is deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period, leading to damage or death of brain cells.
Initially, he struggled with performing daily tasks.
"He's done amazing. Initially when I brought him home, he couldn't get out of bed on his own. He had a hard time feeding himself. He couldn't get dressed by himself," Lederhouse said.
The progress has been four months in the making. He receives occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy all at this location, which has been very helpful.
"They're amazing. They offer all three services. They're like our family now," Lederhouse said.
Last week, Hamburg resident Phil Stokes shared how appreciative he was of the clinic during his care following a car crash that led to his traumatic brain injury in 2017.
"Working with their staff, they were very patient, they were compassionate and they were very good at keeping me on track, challenging me to push myself to continue to improve," Stokes said.
Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy said many people are making "business decisions" and said people are using the Big Beautiful Bill as a "scapegoat".
"Feel for anyone that loses their job, but they clearly felt that those clinics weren't beneficial financially for Kaleida, and they made a business decision. Now they can blame the big beautiful bill, but there's been zero impact to the Big Beautiful bill in terms of dollars and cents," Langworthy said.
The Williamsville location has informed patients of at least three other locations that offer physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy under the healthcare system.
But for Lederhouse, this will be tough because she says Patrick's care is specialized.
"Where we go from not here, he wants to keep doing speech and occupational therapy. So he's going to pay for speech out of his own pocket until they close here in November. After that, I'm not sure," Lederhouse said.
The one aspect that has taken away Patrick's independence is driving. While he cannot drive now, his goal is eventually to do so.
Other organizations nearby that provide physical, occupational and speech therapy services are as follows:
Trilogy-Physical Therapy & the Medically Oriented Gym
1491 Sheridan Dr
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 871-1100
UBMD- 716 Health
111 North Maplemere Rd
Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 204-3211
ECMC-Center for Rehabilitation Services (PT, OT, SLP)
462 Grider St
Buffalo, NY 14215
(716) 898-3225
According to the paper being distributed, all medical records will remain the property of Kaleida Health. Records can be obtained by completing a Release of Records Form and sending to:
Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital
ATTN: Health Information Dept. - Correspondence
1540 Maple Road, Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 568-6500
